Beginner Breadboard

8/13/2019 Beginner Breadboard

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You can make it with

Bread BoardThis project has been designed to exhibit the ease of tongue-and-groovingusing your Triton workcentre.The tongue-and-groove joint is a particularly strong way of joining boardstogether, firstly because of the interlocking nature of the joint and secondlybecause of the considerable increase in gluing area that resultslf you are looking for good fitting tongue-and-grooves, the quality of your cutis all important. We suggest that you use a 40 or 60 tooth saw blade(a tungsten-tipped blade is best)lf your saw has some movement between the saw motor and its baseplate, youmay have to tighten up your saw (refer to operator's manual) or obtain a TritonSaw Stabilizing Bracket which will hold your saw rigid.

ComponentPart No

All dimensions are in mmDescription Quantitv Width Thickness Lenath

ABcD

Edge BoardCentre BoardsEdge BoardCapping Pieces

x 400x 400x 400x 288*1I12

42424242

x32x32x32x32*Cut accurately to length once main boards are joined.

Tool Requirements1. ESSENTIAL Triton workcentre and your power saw. Measuring tape, square, medium and fine sandpaper, pencil2. USEFUL Chisel, gluing clamps, Triton sanding disc, G-clamp.

a Copyright Triton Manufacturing and Design Co. Pty. Ltd

>424

/ssue No. 1. November 1987


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Gonstruction DetailsMaterial Shopping List1. WOOD A dense hardwood is oreferable for thispro.iect The material needs to be reasonably resistantto the punishment that a bread board could beexpected to take, and its weight will be helpful in useQuarter-sawn material is also preferred (as opposed toback-sawn material), because it is less likely to shrinkor warp You should ask your material supplier for"select, quarter-sawn wood, dressed all round"You can make your bread board using one type ofwood only, in which case you should shop for:42 x 32mm (after dressin gl - 2 @ 2 4mlf you chose to use two different types of wood forcontrast, shop for: 42x32mm (D.A.R.) - 1 @ 2 7m, andthe contrasting wood, 42x32mm- 1 @ 1 8m2. FASTENING The bread board is held together by itstongue-and-grooving joints, and glue. Normal PVA orwood glue is suitable if the bread board is neverimmersed in water, nor left in a very damp situationPVA adhesives have good initial strength, but theirresistance to moist conditions is quite poorAlternatively you can use a two-pack waterproofepoxy cement See our appendix on glues for moreinformation.3. OTHER A length gauge is useful See the Jig Guidesection for details

1. lf your material is not uniformly dressedand straight, you will find it difficult to makeaccurate tongue-and-grooves. Check yourmaterial with a square before starting, and ifnecessary square it up using the planingtechnioue shown in the instruction manual.2. The shopping list specifies slightly morewood than is absolutely necessary. This isso you have some material spare for testcuts. Always make test cuts on scrap beforedoing cuts on your workpieces.3. Material supplied by your timbermerchant as dressed will have its width andthickness dressed, but the end sections ofyour material may well be rough sawn.Clean up these end sections by makingtrimming cuts, using your workcentre in thecrosscut mode.

I Your first cuts are best made in theI crosscut mode, using the length-gauger extension on ycur workstops. Attach a stopblock with a G-clarnp or similar at 400mm, andcut 9 pieces to this length. lf you are using twodifferent woods for contrast, cut 5 pieces fromyour 2.7m length, and 4 pieces f rom the 1.8mlength of the contrasting wood. These pieces willbe the A, B and C Components. In either caseyou should have created an offcut which will be

useful for testing your tongue-and-groovesettings.Place your 9 pieces side by side, selecting bestface up, and mark on each where the tongueshould be, and where the groove should be. Notethe Components A and C are different. A isgrooved but without a tongue; C has a tonguebut no groove (Figure 2).

Convert to the table saw mode. lt ispreferable to make the tongues first,because it is easier to adjust the grooves tofit the tongues, rather than vice versa.Set your saw blade height at 1Omm.Set your rip fence at22mm (10mm less than thethickness of your wood) making sure that the ripfence is exactly parallel to the blade. The firstcuts are made with the workpiece on its narroweredge (the 32mm dimension). Begin by makingtest cuts on your scrap. Holding your materialdown firmly onto the table and the 42mm faceagainst the rip fence, make the first cut. Make thesecond cut by running the other 42mm faceagainst the rip fence.

Safety NoteThis type of cut prevents use of the safetyguard. Keep your hands well clear of theblade. Don't trail your fingers behind the workpiece. Use a push stick whenever possible.Note that Component A doesn't require a tongue,so follow the above procedure for only B of yourpieces. Watch that there is no sawdust build-upbetween the workpiece and the rip fence.

Now reset the fence to 32mm to completethe rebate for the tongues. This time theworkpiece is placed with its wider faceresting on the worktable and the narrower edgeagainst the fence. Again, test on your scrap piece

General Points


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first. (Figure 1) You may need to move yourfence very slightly to ensure that the cuts meetexactly and the rebate is square. You may alsoneed to slightly reset your saw blade height ifyour first cut was not exactly 10mm. Don't be tooconcerned if you overcut slightly, as long as thetwo cuts meet and the rebate is reasonablysquare. Remember that the tongue-and-groovewill not be visible either f rom the sides or fromthe end of the bread board, as they are coveredby the capping pieces D.

The grooves can now be made. Set the ripfence at '10mm and make a test cut on yourscrap piece. The saw blade height shouldremain the same, that is at 10mm, but a groovethat is a little deeper than the tongue is preferableto one that is too shallow. Again make two cuts,that is one from each face. This ensures that thetongue and groove will be central in eachworkpiece. Reset the fence 3mm further out, i.e.at 13mm and again make two passes over theblade, one from each face, to remove the waste inthe centre of the groove. You may need to resetyour fence again slightly to remove any remainingwaste.

Check once more that the tongue is clear of thegroove bottom, as this will ensure a neat joiningof the side edges of the boards. Do a test f it ofyour components. You should have the tonguessliding into the grooves without having to forcethem together, but they shouldn't be a sloppy fiteither.Raise the saw blade height to 33mm, andreset the rip fence at 32mm. This is to rip'10mm off Component A ... this was the

Safety NoteUse a push stick when narrow ripping. Refitthe safety guard and riving knive.

tongue and is therefore 42mm wide, not 32mmwhich the other pieces are now.You now have the basic parts of the bread boardcompleted. Apply a thin layer of glue to both thetongue and the groove in each case, and clampwhile the glue sets. Wipe off any excess gluebefore it dries, and ensure that the bread board isnot bowing or twisting as a result of theclamping. (Figure 2)

Convert to the crosscut mode and, if youneed to, trim the ends of your boardexactly square (a shaving cut should be allthat is necessary). Now measure the width ofyour bread board to determine the length of yourcapping pieces D. (Depending on how close tothe 10 x 12mm tongue/groove dimensions youachieved there will be some variance in the widthof the bread board. lt should be in the 275-290mm range). Cut your capping pieces to yourmeasured length.

The next step is to cut rebates across theends of the bread board. This is to make atongue which will lock into a groove to bemade in the capping pieces. Note that yourworktable needs to be set exactly parallel to yoursaw travel for this next operation if you wish toachieve accurate cutting. (Looking from the side,the worktable should be parallel to the aluminiumbearing channels.) You can test that your table iscorrectly set by placing a piece of chipboardscrap or similar (at least as wide as your breadboard) in position against your workstops. Adjustyour saw blade height until the saw teeth justclear your scrap piece. Pass the saw from end toend across your scrap and ensure blade tipclearance is the same at the beginning and endof your traverse.

Now adjust your saw's blade height so thatit cuts 1Omm deep into your 32mmmaterial. Make a test cut on a similar

piece that was grooved but didn't require a

thickness scrap piece to check your depth of cut.


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Construction Details

Make a pencil mark 15mm in from the end ofyour board - this will mark the outer limit of yourrebate. Bring your saw up to the bread board,power off and blade stationary, and move yourbread board until your cut will be just inside your'15mm mark. Clamp a stop block on your workstop extension against the other end of yourbread board, and now make four cuts, turningyour board over and end-for-end.After these four defining cuts have been maderemove your stop block and cut away the rest ofthe waste. You may need to make a number ofpasses over the material to even up your cuts.Figure 3.

Change back to the table saw mode to cutthe grooves in the two capping pieces D.Set your blade height by holding the breadboard on its end beside the blade. (lt should be15mm, but it's probably easier to "eyeball".)Set your rip fence at 10mm, but again test onscrap before cutting into your workpieces. Once

your settings are correct, make your two cutsinto the narrow edge of your capping pieces (firstone wide face, then the other against the ripfence). Reset the rip fence at 13mm and repeat.Remember the safety concerns noted in Step 2.

Do a trial fit of the capping pieces. lf theyare too tight on the end tongues of thebread board, you may need to do ashaving cut. This is best done by placing thegroove of the capping piece over the saw blade(power off ), rest the rip fence against yourworkpiece, push your workpiece against theblade towards the fence, and screw down thefence (check for parallel). This will result in avery fine shaving being made in your groove.Again pass first one face and then the otheragainst the rip fence to ensure your grooveremains central.

I I Once you are happy with the fit of yourI I capping pieces glue and clamp them on.r r Because the capping pieces are madefrom the same material as the main boards whichmake up the bread board, they are 42mm inwidth. We felt that this made the bread boardlook somewhat out of proportion (too long) andtherefore we trimmed 1Omm off each end of theboard. This was easily done in the cross cutmode, but it's a matter of personal preference,and you may decide not to follow our example.

Sand your bread board to remove anyirregularities... how much sanding youneed to do is a reflection of howaccurately you made your tongue and grooves. ltis also advisable to round off all the edges. Youwill find it useful to use the Triton Sanding Discmounted in your workcentre ar; a face-platesander to round the corners of your bread board.Figure 4.

l) Finishes on surfa dI .t present a specialr v srmrar vegeraorespan of a few days will adequately preserve yourwood, but it's possible that they can becomegummy or rancid. Linseed oil, tung oil and mostvarnishes can contain poisonous lead or mercuryto speed drying. lt is best to avoid thesepotentially toxic finishes. Paraffin oil is ourrecommendation as a finish (available from yourlocal pharmacy), as it's non-toxic and won'tcontaminate the flavour of your food.

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Beginner Breadboard